In occupied Ukraine, the first day of Russian school begins with preparations for war

Описание: Across occupied Ukraine on Sept. 1, children spent the first day of the new school year being brainwashed into idolizing Russia and waging war.

At a newly opened school in Luhansk, Leonid Pasechnik, the Russia-installed head of the occupied territories in Luhansk Oblast, posed near a bust of Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin, and said students should "love the motherland, cherish and protect it, because it is the most precious thing they have."

"(Let's go) only ahead, only to victories!" he added.

Similar scenes played out across the occupied territories — students in Donetsk marched while holding the Russian tricolor flag. In Kherson Oblast, a politician from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s "United Russia" party handed out sweets.

Ukraine's Center for National Resistance posted a photo it claimed was from Luhansk Oblast showing children in a training session where they were being taught hand-to-hand combat and "special forces techniques."

"The 'instructors' openly said that this was preparation for selection into military formations," the center said.

"Children and young people are being encouraged to regard war as an inevitable part of their futures," Jenny Mathers, Russia expert and lecturer in International Politics at Aberystwyth University, told the Kyiv Independent.

"And to prepare themselves to play their parts, whether as soldiers or as civilians who support the war effort," she added.